The Soldier and the Spy
by gleekymcgrey
Summary: Unrelated series of Romanogers drabbles, because the world needs more of them. Prompts from Tumblr and FF.
1. Chapter 1 : And the Rest was History

Sorry for the messed up file I uploaded!

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NATASHA

Everything's going according to plan…so far.

Wanda and Vision have been located, no thanks to their failure to check in with her or Steve every now and then. _Seriously, Wanda…you knew better._ The darn kid.

They had three hours before reaching Wanda and Vis' location, give and take. They picked one hell of a city, too.

Darn kids on a romantic vacation.

Plenty of time for a nap, a bit of stretching before the inevitable fist fights, and even a bit of pep talk, and she could really use a proper meal about now, but Natasha could see that Steve was already a bit riled up. He had been restless since finding out from the news that Tony had gone missing. It was pride that kept the two apart for years, and now Steve believed that it was pride that put Tony in jeopardy. Like the good old hero that he was, Steve thought it was his fault.

Natasha sighed. Although this brooding, quiet-er side of Steve was making her feel all sorts of unprofessional feelings, she had to do something to whip him back to shape. That had always been their dynamic—look out for each other and set each other straight. She switched to autopilot and left everything to Sam.

"Hey…" She nudged his shoulder playfully.

Steve looked up briefly but found his shoes more interesting. "Hi."

She sat down beside him, "If everything goes smoothly, we'll be there in two, three hours tops. Two and a half's possible."

He nodded.

"Cap." She said coolly and put her hand over his to stop his fidgeting. "…it's not your fault, alright? None of this is. And we're making good progress here; we found Wanda and Vis, and we'll find Tony too. This isn't your fault."

He chuckled, almost mocking. "Then whose is it?" He was looking at her now, and for the first time she wasn't seeing _Captain America,_ everybody's boy-next-door, charming hero who'll most likely rescue cats from trees or help senior citizens cross the pedestrians. No, right now he was something else. His anger and his guilt were eating him, and it showed right there by the way he looked at her. "I could have talked to him. Reached out, in some way. Let him know he wasn't alone, that he can still count on _me_ instead of take on alien races alone."

"You did reach out, Steve. It was all up to Tony to—that's not even the point. My point is, the world—no, the universe? It's too damn big and every second it unfolds in a million different ways. And we do our best but let's face it, Steve…" she trailed off, tilting her head so she could look at him straight to the eye. "…we can only do so much."

He did soften a bit, and she wanted to hold him, let him know that Bucky wasn't the only friend he can count on. Or Sam. That she would always be on his side, and he'd saved her ass countless times now that she'd be willing to lay down her life for him any second of the day. It'd be a sacrifice she'll be willing to take, and not just because it was literally in her contract at SHIELD and then the Avengers.

Steve took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it, much to her surprise.

In the past years, to say that she and Steve became closer would be the understatement of the century. It started when she went out of her way to find him after the team split up and she became, once again, a fugitive from the government. And of course, he was more than glad to take her under his wing. They became a family—a law-breaking, on-the-run, shoot-on-sight kind of family, but hey, Natasha has had _worse_ company. Then their friendship turned into…well, something else. She convinced herself first that it was just a school girl crush, and the attraction was because he was there _all the time_ , but then Sam was there too, and she didn't feel the same way about the guy.

Oh well, then the rest was history. A long, complicated history.

But they both decided it was best to keep it to themselves, and keep it a secret from everybody else, even Sam. But of course, the guy knew what was going on in the other side of the thin walls of the dingy shacks they rented.

"What about laying low, hmm?" She grinned, amused by the butterflies that seemed to come alive at the slightest brush of his lips on her skin.

Steve shook his head and rested both their hands on his lap, "The world could very well be ending, Nat. I think we can let loose a little."

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And oh, I'm accepting prompts so leave them there, too. :)


	2. Chapter 2: Just a Friend?

"So, here's a funny thing I realized." Natasha said, pacing across the large room, dressed down to a white tank top and some yoga pants that was sturdy and comfortable at the same time. She's been in Wakanda less than a day and she was beginning to really love it here. Steve was on one of the single beds, and looked smaller somehow, now that she could see the black and blue bruises on his torso, wincing at every slight movement. He'll get over it soon enough of course, with his super recovery thing. In the morning he'll be good as new, the bad guys will have a lot of ass-kicking to take.

He looked up, struggling to get into a clean top and she walked over to lend a hand. "What's the funny thing you realized?"

Natasha helped his arms slip into the shirt holes, "That Bruce called you?"—she looked up, straight into his blue eyes and watched his features change. She could be wrong, but there was _definitely_ a blush on his cheeks. "You must have known he was back." Her mouth curved into a teasing smile, testing him. "—aaaaaand, you didn't tell me."

Steve ducked his head and sighed, taking a few steps back. "Yeah, I did…" he trailed off, "But with everything that's happened, with Wanda and Vision…I realized I forgot to tell you about it until he was right there. Bruce."

Nat shrugged, "Oh okay. Because if I knew better I'd say you were jealous."

"Oh, pfft." Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "Why would I…no, I'm not…well, you were a bit sad when he left. He seemed like…well you did like him. I-I saw the way you looked at him all those years ago and…but it's…of course I'm _not_ jealous."

"You're talking too much, Rogers." She stifled a laugh as he inched closer, putting one hand on his cheek gently. "You said it yourself. It was _years_ ago. And we were… _compromised_ by Wanda, I think that had something to do with it. Point is, whether my feelings for Bruce were real or not, that's all in the past now. He's a good friend."

"Like I'm your friend?" He smirked, putting both hands on her hips.

She rolled her eyes and kissed him on the mouth. Man, it felt like forever since she last kissed him like that—passionate, with the hair tugging and back scratching and all the stuff those chick flicks are made of—stolen pecks on the cheek on the very rare moments they're alone just don't cut it.

"I don't kiss my friends like _that._ "


	3. Chapter 3: I Didn't Sign Up For This

Prompt #1

From Tumblr: " _Natasha and steve "act like" they are wanda's parents on those 2 years before infinity war.. because there is not enough fanfic with these trio.."_

 **Notes: For the purpose of this story, let's just say Wanda is on the young side.**

Wanda sat with her legs crossed on the dining chair, head slightly bowed as she focused on her muddy boots. If she learned anything from living with Natasha and Steve- _aka Black Widow and Captain America aka her legal guardians until she turns 21_ -it was keeping her mouth shut and nodding along to everything they tell her. The past year hasn't been easy for everyone; everyone had people they miss and everyone was worried about where the next meal was going to come from, given their current "fugitive" status, and Wanda totally understood where she went wrong, and thought she deserved some kind of punishment. But she deserved some kind of understanding too!

"What were you thinking!" Natasha yelled, her voice raspy and tired as she resigned on the creaky bar stool.

She opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut short by Steve.

"No, no...you do _not_ get to talk your way out of this, Wanda." Natasha added, and Wanda could swear her red locks were flaming, if that was possible at all.

"No, no. I think she needs to tell us _what the freaking hell she was thinking,_ Natasha." Steve urged her on. Dear Lord, was he scary like this. That was the moment Wanda realized she would never want to be in Steve Roger's bad graces. Or Natasha's. _Especially Natasha's_. "Start from the beginning. Don't leave anything out."

Steve sighed and stepped a little into the light. He reminded Wanda of her eighty-year old neighbor who often looked after her and Pietro when they were kids, and how disappointed the poor woman looked when she tried tossing her brother's pet guinea pig outside the window. In more ways than one he was like Wanda's father too, well, at least with what little memory she had of the man. She remembered him being a large man, probably as tall as Pietro by the time they were grown, and he had a nice laugh, and made really delicious soup. Probably a good doting dad, if he hadn't disappeared when they were little. They were six when he was drafted into the army.

Wanda swallowed a lump in her throat and cleared her voice. "I know...it's not an excuse. I know the rules, and how much danger we're in now that we're running from...well, _everyone_ …"

Natasha shifted on her seat, wincing slightly. She probably didn't think anyone would notice, but Wanda saw her favoring her right leg and hissing quietly everytime she took a deep breath. She can bet there were black and blue bruises underneath her armor, and Wanda blamed herself for that.

In a strange way, Natasha did remind Wanda of her mother. Wanda looked up to her mother when she was little. She had red hair too, and her cheeks a map of freckles, strong and feisty for a skinny woman. She was around longer than their dad, tough, and raised hell with her temper. Growing up probably would be a lot easier if their mom were around; no rallies and protests in the streets maybe? And definitely no experiments. Pietro would still be around.

"...but I couldn't help but worry about Vis."

Steve and Natasha exchanged glances.

Natasha exhaled and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"He's still at the facility…" Wanda continued, "And maybe he's okay, maybe he's safe watching documentaries about modern technology and maybe Stark's got it all under control, but maybe he's lonely. Even before all _this,_ Vis and I we…" she sighed, "...we had each other. You might be thinking that I'm crazy, that he's just a superbot who can't possible feel all the things I'm feeling but you may be wrong. He's more than that. He's my friend."

"Wanda…" Steve stepped closer.

"I know it was stupid trying to break into the facility alone…"

"You bet it was." Natasha said in a low whisper, but her tone told Wanda she wasn't angry anymore. "Come on. It's late, just...get out of here."

Wanda nodded apologetically as she got up from the chair and smiled a little when Steve ruffled her hair on her way to the bedroom.

"I didn't sign up for this." Natasha shook her head and leaned against the kitchen counter, the peeling paint sticking on her skin. "This is like...this is like…"

"Motherhood?" Steve smirked, amused.

"Nothing I'm trained for. Nothing _we're_ ever trained for."

"I know." He nodded, taking a step towards her, gently pulling her into his arms. They both had a long day. They deserved this. "But what do they say...practice makes perfect, right?"


End file.
